Wrestling

Storm Set For 35th Annual Midwest Classic This Weekend

Dec 11, 2013

PAINESVILLE, Ohio-- The Lake Erie College wrestling team is set for the 35th Annual Midwest Classic held at the University of Indianapolis this weekend (Dec. 14-15).

This year's field consists of some of the top DII, DII and NAIA schools in the country and 32 All-Americans, including the Storm's 157-pounder Zak Vargo (Stow, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), who was the runner-up at the 2013 National Championships, as well as former DII, NAIA and JUCO national champions.

Eight of the top 20 DII schools will be in attendance: #4 Newberry College, #8 Western State Colorado University, #9 University of Indianapolis, #13 Upper Iowa University, #14 Maryville University, #15 Ashland University, #17 McKendree University and #19 University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

"We are very excited for the opportunity to compete against some of the best competition," said Storm Head Coach Kevin Hoogenboom. "We continue to get better each week and we are currently piecing our lineup together. We have been plagued by injury early on and we will not be 100% until after the New Year, but it has been great to watch different guys be successful. We feel confident in whoever steps on the mat to compete for us."

Live stats and brackets will be available at trackwrestling.com. Indianapolis will also have live video of the finals available here.

The Storm is coming off the heels of an impressive showing the Newberry Duals, finishing 4-1, toppling 19th-ranked Pembroke, Limestone College, Coker College and Darton State University. 133-pounder Austin Gillihan (Corry, Pa./Corry Area) and Vargo led the way for the Storm, finishing the day with 5-0 records. Tyler Tesny (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls) finished 4-0, including a victory over the third-ranked wrestler at 165-pounds in the country.